The present invention relates to a lightweight collapsible stand, and more particularly to a lightweight collapsible stand for supporting books and the like in a suitable orientation for viewing.
It is well known to provide a book stand for supporting a book or other articles in a convenient position for viewing so that, for example, an individual may use the stand to maintain a book at a convenient angle for reading while leaving his hands free. Similarly, a retail store may use a stand to display its merchandise at a convenient angle for viewing by a potential customer.
Typically stands are triangular in configuration. Where the triangle is a right triangle, the book or other article is supported on the hypotenuse at the desired angle. Where the triangle is an isosceles triangle, either or both of the two equal length sides may be used for supporting the article. The stands may be solid or hollow, as desired, provided that they have sufficient strength to support the articles to be used therewith. For many applications, the weight and bulk of the stand is not an issue as the stand will rarely, if ever, be moved from one location to another or be supported on anything other than a sturdy base.
However, for other applications the weight and bulk of the stand is of considerably significance. For example, an individual may wish to carry the stand with him from one location to another on a frequent basis. In this situation he weight and bulk of a conventional stand may be unsatisfactory. While collapsible stands are not unknown, such stands typically cannot releasably lock into both the use orientation and the storage orientation so that they neither accidentally open during transport nor accidentally collapse during use.
The conventional stand is intended to be placed on a support or base, such as a table, with the bottom edge of the book or other article resting on the base and bearing a substantial portion of the weight thereof. Again, while this is satisfactory in most instances, on occasion a satisfactory base may not be available. For example, the stand may be supported on a lawn where the use of grass as the base might stain the article and/or might not provide a suitable coefficient of friction to prevent the article from sliding off the stand. Or a table which is used as the base may be so dirty that the article itself would be dirtied by contact therewith.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight, collapsible stand for books and other articles.
Another object is to provide such a stand which releasably locks in both the use and storage orientations.
A further object is to provide such a stand which in one embodiment, if desired, provides a ledge on which to rest the article so that it does not contact the stand support.